Clockwork

Clockwork Air Sea Rescue Boat 1320

Hornby Hawk Coronation 1937 edition. 9.25 inch hull. Coronation decal on foredeck.

Racer 1 speedboat. 8.5 inch hull.

First boat produced by Meccano simply named Hornby

River Cruiser. 16.5 inches in length. 500 feet on one winding. Has an on/off lever behind cabin.

Essentially a Gleam painted in grey.

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16.5 inch hulled speedboat. 500 feet on one winding. On/off lever in cockpit.

Hornby Hawk. 9 inch hull. 100 feet on one winding. Motor brake on engine hatch.

16.5 inch hull. 500 feet on one winding. On/off lever in cockpit.

9 inch Tug

9 inch Cruiser

Penguin Long Range Clockwork Cabin Cruiser 403S. I have guessed that this boat was made by Penguin as the label enclosed has Minimodels printed on it and the key supplied is identical to the keys supplied with the smaller Penguin boats.

Penguin Model 4 9 inch Cruiser. I received this in an incorrect Tri-ang Burnham box.

9 inch Cruiser

9 inch Cruiser

9 inch Patrol Boat

12 inch Liner

9 inch Drifter kit. A very rare kit. I suppose these were made to try and cash in on the increasing popularity of Airfix kits. I think it is missing a couple of small parts , and on acquiring the kit , I had to put clear tape over a couple of holes in the bag.

16 inch Speedboat

9 inch Cruiser

RAF Sea Rescue Tender

11 inch cruiser. Has all the accessories separate. A lovely complete model. This box can house a number of different models. Also , it is supplied with stickers on a sheet , rather than applied to the model. I would think this was a cost saving measure. This model also illustrates the connection between Tri-ang , Scalex and Penguin. The box has 'Tri-ang' and 'Scalex' markings , and the key is marked 'Pengiun'

12 inch cruiser.

Three Funnel Liner in a box that has a more modern , but a less romantic look about it , than the other 'Three Funnel Liner' I have displayed.

Clyde 6 inch clockwork cruiser. Sadly , as all too common with the small plastic boats , the boat , although looking unused , has the motor loose in hull.

Three Funnel Liner in a lovely illustrated box.

Motor Torpedo Boat

Coastal Patrol Boat.

9 inch Cruiser

Three Funnel Liner in a plain Scalex box.

Clockwork liner with strong , but short running clockwork motor. Has a large plastic key that is prone to breaking as the clockwork motor has a strong resistance to winding.

KSB 73 Kusten Schutzboot (Coastal Protection Boat)

Star Speedboat 17 inches in length. Obviously missing a few parts. I can't find an image on the web to allow me to attempt to restore it. Obviously in poor condition , but I had to have it because it maybe the only example of this boat I will ever see.

Star SM1 speedboat. I love these Star speedboats because I love the Star company , history , products and all that goes with it , but I have to admit they are not the best performers. I have two or three of these speedboats , but they have very weak springs in the clockwork motors. This, maybe is because of their age, but similar age clockwork boats from other manufacturers don't seem to have such weak springs in their motors. Star supplied these to Woolworths under the 'Britannia' brand.

One of the later Sprites from the mid seventies with a red hull and a white deck.
It has the black rubber keyhole bung supplied on the last boats.
Unlike the earlier other Sprites , this one has the round transfer on the 'engine cover hatch'.
The red hull is one of the less common colour schemes.

Early 9 inch Racer 1 with a slide off engine cover and engine brake. It would have been nice if Sutcliffe has kept the 9 inch hulled boats with the removable engine cover , enabling oiling and , if required , motor replacement.

Sutcliffe Comet. A lovely example in a simple , but very appealing box. One of my favourite Sutcliffe boats in a jolly yellow. I would have thought that this would have been one of the cheapest Sutcliffe boats for its time.

Pre War Minx . Very similar to the 1980 Minx except the windscreen is different. Lovely wooden motor cover. No motor , missing foredeck vent and is obviously a re-paint.

Pre-war 9" Zip. The decal on the 'engine cover' states that the motor is 'Supercharged'. The sedate progress across the boating pool suggests otherwise ! There are a few versions of the Zip. Quite rare to find one in its box.

Sooty 9 inch Speedboat. One of the most sought after Sutcliffes. A love boat in a jolly box.

Sutcliffe Unda Wunda submarine

Sutcliffe Diana made in 1981 in commemoration of the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Only 375 of these were made. Based on the Hawk with an extra cabin piece soldered on. Always supplied with a black stopper.

The lovely Unda Wunda from 1976. My personal favourite of the submarines. I'm not sure why - it may have something to do with its colour - Manchester City sky blue ! Supplied with a short shaft key.

Sutcliffe Tiger. This model had a stronger spring than the standard 9 inch hulled Sutcliffes.

Post war Sutcliffe Grenville about 1948. Identical to the pre-war Grenville except for the obvious colour difference and , as pointed out by Claude Heurte from France , the stamping 'SUTCLIFFE MADE IN ENGLAND' is turned 180 degrees from the pre war black version.

9 inch Comet. A very common Sutcliffe boat in the less common yellow and red box. I think its simple lines are very appealing.

The Fury torpedo boat is one of the rarer Sutcliffe boats .
The artwork on the box showing Sutcliffe's diversity not just in its design of boats , but in the artwork style of the boxes.

Pre-war Grenville about 1939. The most expensive of all Sutcliffe boats to produce due to the detailed superstructure. The box is detailed too , giving details of the many deck components. The two masts are removeable. The four deck screws allow access to the motor. The black and grey paintwork indicates that this is a pre-war Grenville. Red and grey indicates post-war.

Unnamed 16 inch battleship. Very impressive boat that travels at a very realistic slow speed.

The Racer III at 16,5 inches long is one larger Hornby boats. Pre-war and in beautiful condition.
It has the original instruction leaflet which states ,'During the summer months every active boy wants to be out in the open air as much as possible and when he is out , he wants to be doing something not just loafing about.' Has different gearing , giving a greater speed than the No.4 and No.5 boats , but at the cost of a reduced run length of 300 feet. Has a motor on/off lever in the rearmost cockpit.

12.5 inch hulled speedboat. 300 feet on one winding.

12.5 inch hulled speedboat. Over 300 feet on one winding. Maybe a re-paint.

Hornby Viking River Cruiser. 16.5 inch hull.

Hornby Hawk. 9.25 inch hull. Blue. Motor brake.

16.5 inch hulled speedboat. 300 feet on one winding. On/off lever in cockpit.

12.5 inch hulled speedboat. Over 300 feet on one winding.

Hornby Viking River Cruiser. 16.5 inch hull. On/off lever in cockpit.

Meccano / Hornby RAF Launch. Complete with key and deck accessories. 10.5 inch hull. similar motor to pre-war Racer 1 , Martin etc.

I can't understand any of the writing on the box , but I just love this little boat. One of my favourite boats.

6 inch Cruiser

9 inch Cruiser

Penguin Long Range Clockwork Cabin Cruiser 403S. I have guessed that this boat was made by Penguin as the label enclosed has Minimodels printed on it and the key supplied is identical to the keys supplied with the smaller Penguin boats.

6 inch Cruiser

17 inch Cruiser

6 inch Cruiser

9 inch Drifter

9 inch Tug Boat Kit. A very rare kit. I suppose these were made to try and cash in on the increasing popularity of Airfix kits. I think it is complete , but can't be sure as it has never been opened , and on acquiring the kit , I had to put clear tape over a couple of holes in the bag.

'Queen of the Seas' 9 inch 2 funnel liner

6 inch Cruiser . This lovely little boat was , as stated on the box , made exclusively for Marks and Spencers

6 inch River Cruiser with radar mast and flag. Bagged.

Scalex 6 inch River Cruiser with key.

Clyde 6 inch clockwork cruiser.

9 inch cruiser.

Scalex Lifeboat

Single funnel liner. Part no . 402S. Nice artwork on the box.

9 inch Patrol Boat

Scalex Dawn Tug with leaflet and key.

Motor Torpedo Boat

Scalex Aberdeen Drifter. Empire Made copy of the Penguin Drifter.

RAF Sea Rescue Tender

FB 75 Feuer Loschboot (Fire Boat)

Star SM1 speedboat. I love these Star speedboats because I love the Star company , history , products and all that goes with it , but I have to admit they are not the best performers. I have two or three of these speedboats , but they have very weak springs in the clockwork motors. This, maybe is because of their age, but similar age clockwork boats from other manufacturers don't seem to have such weak springs in their motors. Star supplied these to Woolworths under the 'Britannia' brand.

Star SM1 speedboat. I love these Star speedboats because I love the Star company , history , products and all that goes with it , but I have to admit they are not the best performers. I have two or three of these speedboats , but they have very weak springs in the clockwork motors. This, maybe is because of their age, but similar age clockwork boats from other manufacturers don't seem to have such weak springs in their motors. Star supplied these to Woolworths under the 'Britannia' brand.

Sutcliffe Minx from around 1960. Quite a rare Sutcliffe boat , firstly because most buyers preferred the traditional tinplate, and also because the plastic construction is relatively fragile. Same running gear as the 12'' hulled tin plates such as Hawk and Commodore .Shares the same hull as the 1960s plastic hulled Zodiac and meteor. You must be careful when winding up the boat as the deck can crack quite easily.
The motor can be accessed under the yellow hatch.

Clockwork Valiant from the late 1970s. Wound between the funnels in contrast to the pre-war version that is wound down the fore funnel. Quite a common Sutcliffe boat. Sutcliffe re-issued the Valiant in an effort to revive flagging fortunes in the toy market. Unfortunately , it couldn't compete with plastic toys that were cheaper to produce. Sutcliffe ceased trading not long after the Valiant was released.

Jupiter Pilot Cruiser 9 inches long. Fitted with clear keyhole bung , which indicates that it is one of the last boats to be made by Sutcliffe.

9 inch Comet. A very common Sutcliffe boat in the plain white carton , and also has the black stopper. Both these attributes indicate this was one of the last boats to leave the Sutcliffe factory.

The Victor torpedo boat was made predominantly with the blue hull. The earliest versions were supplied with a mast that was not folded over at the ends . This had to be changed to the design with the folded over ends when a child unfortunately put their hand on the upright mast.

9 inch Comet. A very common Sutcliffe boat in the less common yellow and red box. I think its simple lines are very appealing.

The less common red hulled version of the Victor. Identical in every other respect to the blue hulled version.

9 inch Racer 1 Coronation 1953. In common with the later 12 inch clockwork boats , this version of the Racer 1 allows the motor to be accessed under the removeable cover.

9 inch Viking. The Sutcliffe factory modelled this , albeit very loosely, on the Manx Steamship Viking.
Wound down the fore funnel. This version is from the last years of production , around 1980. It has the white box that housed many of the last products produced by the factory.

Pre war 12" Swallow. Sutcliffe made a 16" version of this boat named Commodore.

The Hawk is a very pleasing clockwork cruiser. You can see the clear stopper over the winding hole indicating that this Hawk was one of the later issues. The Merlin cruiser is an electric motor powered version of the Hawk. 12 inches long.

A more basic version of Jane without rails and no deck fitting in front of the windscreen. Supplied in a plain white box. Unfortunately , I now believe this is one of the many fake Janes unfortunately being sold these days. I , and other collectors, believe this is because it is relatively easy to modify the very common
Comet to make a passable Jane that may fool collectors. I was fooled !

Sutcliffe Minx from 1980. As you can see it uses the same hull pressings from the pre -war hulls , and also uses the windscreen used for the contemporary Tiger speedboat. The box is the same box as used for the Hawk with a factory applied green label printed 'Minx' on both ends.

Jupiter Pilot Cruiser 9 inches long. The red hulled variant of this boat is one of the most common Sutcliffe boats , but the blue hulled version is much rarer.

Sutcliffe early 9 inch Racer 1. Boxed.

9 inch hulled speedboat . A lovely boat with lovely decals. The way the boat is shown on the box streaking through the water is a little misleading. Like most clockwork boats , slow and steady is the way it goes.